Today had a discussion with a fellow windsurfer regarding the Aileron booms. He grew to like them and mentioned in the past he broke three(3) aluminum booms in one season and has tried to bring a boom out to a fellow windsurfer stuck out there with a broken boom. He was a fairly light fellow compared to my 100 kilos/220 pounds.

I imagine this does NOT apply to carbon booms ??

Also begs the question - after a certain amount of time - sell booms and replace - or to be fair - toss 'em and replace ??

Guess one can easily get stranded with such an issue $%^&*
Hope the water buddies try and can help in such a situation ...
as discussed in another current post

Sure, aliminum booms break, more so if they live in salt water, but
carbon booms can be broken too. The thing is, aluminum booms
fatigue over time with their intended use, carbon booms not as much.
I tend to trust carbon a lot more, but your ribs will like aluminum
considerably better on impact.

I only use carbon booms these days.

-Craig

joethewindsufa wrote:

Today had a discussion with a fellow windsurfer regarding the Aileron booms. He grew to like them and mentioned in the past he broke three(3) aluminum booms in one season and has tried to bring a boom out to a fellow windsurfer stuck out there with a broken boom. He was a fairly light fellow compared to my 100 kilos/220 pounds.

I imagine this does NOT apply to carbon booms ??

Also begs the question - after a certain amount of time - sell booms and replace - or to be fair - toss 'em and replace ??

Guess one can easily get stranded with such an issue $%^&*
Hope the water buddies try and can help in such a situation ...
as discussed in another current post

30 years of shortboarding now....
I've broken maybe 8 aluminum booms, most at the connection between front end and arm, most with corrosion inside the boom arms.
I"ve broken maybe 12 aluminum front ends on carbon booms. All with corrosion evident inside the front end, so the carbon alone can't resist the flexing loads.
I"ve broken 2 all carbon booms, both arms, near the front end, but not so near corrosion or anything evident, to showed why
Everything breaks, even our bodies.
There are no guarantees, but you can replace older stuff increasing your chances of not breaking down at dark, on a cold windy day.

Lifespan depends on lemons and how often you crash, how often you tap the boom on the rocks, fences, or cement pilings. How big you are, big guys break stuff (my old bud was 275lbs., broke stuff really quickly).
I'm 150 lbs. This season, have lost one fin thru neglect to tighten the screw, broke one PowerBox screw (snapped it going into a jibe), and sheered off a wave fin at the base from repeated stupid jump landings. I'm 63 years old.
One of my sails snapped it's headcap, 1/2 hour after I went out, the mast was installed correctly, the plastic cracked, and when loaded too long, just gave way. Stuff happens.
Most booms last 200 days, easy. After you get rid of it, another sail might snap it the first day, or he might log another 200 days on it.

mostly, i wave sail. i break about 1 aluminum boom a year. some brands i break more readily than others. carbon booms used to be lighter. they broke really quickly. they now cost a fortune and break only after many years.

yeah, it was Aeron
if you break one per year - guess warranty does NOT cover

since i flat water sail in fresh water, and use my alu boom about 12 times a year, as a heavyweight, i will assume about 10 years MTF for me @200 times used
only had modern sails about 4 years
gives me another 5 to 6 years

If you're a heavy weight, and also sail big sails, you'll probably appreciate the carbon booms. I know they're awful pricey these days, so that might not be an option for you, but they definitely make a difference for the heavy guys. I'm 205 lbs and have broken several aluminum booms - mostly at the harness line loading point. Broke one carbon boom there too, but that was in a spectacular crash when I hit a sand bar hooked in!
brian

I have not seen Aeron lately, the 1 shop I know that did sell them, no longer does.

trying to joggle my memory and I can think of 3/4 instance when a aluminum boom broke, once a in a very normal just sailing along (JSA)

the advantage to carbon is stiffness and quite noticeable once handled very light, the strength to weight ration must be high. I have had a long Chinook carbon, suitable for 8.5m it has seen a lot of use. I treated myself to a smaller carbon in the newer Chinook head style, so I have a big and small carbon

I don't loose any sleep over how long any will last. The alloy ones to me are very reasonable in price compared to most of our kit.

To purchase a carbon seeing how expensive they are I would look at as an investment._________________K4 fins
4Boards....May the fours be with you

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